Before we get started, I completely forgot to mention that we are offering FREE SHIPPING for the holidays so order now!

I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s Christmas Tree tutorial ’cause here we go again! Its time for part 2: Christmas Wreaths!

Materials
- 66 green 18 gauge  3/16″ID anodized aluminum rings
- 5 yellow 3/36″ID anodized aluminum rings for decoration
- 1 red 24 gauge 1/2″ ID anodized aluminum ring (helps hold shape)
- 6″ green cord
- 4 red beads

Step 1:
Close ten green rings. Loop ten more green rings through the closed rings to make ten interlocking pairs as shown.

Step 2:
Connect your pairs together into a long strand. Use three rings to make each connection as shown in the first picture below. Now, add a third ring next to every other interlocking pair to add some stability to the final piece.

Connect the strand to the large ring by looping a single ring through a set of three. Remember this connection is through the connectors, NOT the interlocking pairs, as shown above.

Step 3:
Once your strand of chainmail is connected all the way around the large ring, close the circle with three more rings and connect this set of three rings to the large ring. Add some cord with a few beads to one side and you’re almost done!

Step 4:
Add the small rings as decorations. Remember from the tree tutorial, these small rings only fit around a couple larger rings so you will likely have to force them in between some rings to fit them in.

All done!

Happy holidays!

Don’t you just love the holidays? My mom sure does and her spirit is certainly infectious.  This year she asked me to make some Christmas charms for her to give to our family on Christmas Eve. I really like what I eventually came up with and so I thought I would make a tutorial for any chainmaillers who celebrate Christmas (or want to give a small but handmade gift to someone who does.) These are also pretty fast so they make good last minute oops-I-forgot-someone gifts too!

I am working in more of an office situation with the rest of the team (as opposed to in my living room in my PJs) and I am having a hard time finding a place where the lighting is right for my incredibly finicky digital camera. I have honestly considered going back to my 50 year old Minolta SLR and buying a scanner just because I know it actually knows how to focus, but I digress.  And now that I have digressed I have an urge to go take some high contrast, black and white, late fall pictures in High Park… I think its the little bit of goth still in me that loves the look of gnarled, old, bare trees surrounded by their fallen leaves. ANYWAY – tutorial time. (Sorry for the wandering mind, I recently rediscovered World of Goo and have been playing a little bit too much… and far too late into the night!)

Materials
- 55 green 18 gauge  3/16″ID anodized aluminum rings
- 4 yellow18 gauge 3/36″ID anodized aluminum rings for decoration
- 3 red 18 gauge 3/36″ID anodized aluminum rings for decoration
- 1 large red ring to hang it from (the size of this ring doesn’t matter very much but if you like the look of these ones they are 1/2″ ID, 24 gauge)

Step 1:
Close eleven green rings. Loop ten more green rings through 10 of these closed rings to create 10 sets of interlocking rings and one little loner: (see below)

Step 2:
Connect one of your interlocking pairs to the large red ring.

Step 3:
Connect two more interlocking pairs to the first one with two green rings. Connect these two pairs together with a single green ring.

Step 4:

Now connect the loner pre-closed ring from before to both of these new pairs. You will now have a little diamond hanging off your big ring. Make it into a triangle by adding interlocking pairs to each side of the loner ring and connecting them to the row above. If you want to make these trees into earrings, skip to step 5 now, otherwise continue your tree by adding a fourth row. You will be running out of room to go through the center loner ring now so just use one ring each to connect the two middle pairs of the bottom row (see picture).

Before making it back into a triangle, connect the middle two pairs to the outside rings of the row above for extra stability.  Add two more pairs to the corners to complete the triangle shape as above.

Step 5:
Add the final pair to the middle of the bottom row to create your tree trunk. (This pair could be brown if you are so inclined.)

Step 6:
Add your decorations! These tiny rings will only fit around two of the green rings, and just barely around the interlocking pairs, so pick your locations for them carefully. Once they were closed, I turned them carefully so any tiny little open gap would be nicely hidden inside.

And?

Voila! All done your mini Christmas tree!

Tomorrow I will have a similar tutorial for the mini wreaths in the first picture. If anything is not clear or you have any other comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear them!

Happy crafting and happy holidays!

I am not one of those girls that gets hugely excited about fancy designer purses but, I have been looking for the ‘perfect purse’ (and spent a small fortune on them in the meantime). The problem is that I can’t seem to find one that matches my style and is interesting with enough pockets for all my stuff and so, it in spirit of DIY, I am making one exactly how I want it. This is the first of series of posts chronicaling my purse’s creation, complete with learning a few new techniques. Coming up there will be some knitting, felting, possibly some embroidery as well, and today: chainmail!

Enough blabbity blab – here are some pictures of the chainmail section which will eventually be a small, secure pocket for money or cards on the outside of the completed purse.

Tools of the trade: chain nose and bent nose pliers, black and blue 3mm anodized aluminum rings (approxiametly 1300 blue, 600 black total).

And the finished chainmail section which measures just under 3 inches square, the perfect size for credit card, ID, cash, etc. For some reason my camera thinks the background is pinkish… which it isn’t.. but you get the idea. This section took probably the longest of all and I am very relieved to have it done, micromail is so fidgety and eye-crossing.

In a couple weeks I will make the main section (knit) and then a couple weeks after that I will share the decoration (felted) and make some final decisions about the strap and extra pockets etc for the inside.

Thanks for looking, happy crafting!

Incredibly awesome dragons. Made of chainmail.  This piece in particular really showed me just how incredibly versatile a medium chainmail can be. Crafted by Michael Stevenson from right here in Ontario, along with a host of other animals, these creative creatures incorporate a variety of ring sizes, metals,  and weaves to achieve the incredibly detailed shapes. I found his work over on the Ring Lord Forums where he has a compendium of a bunch more great chainmail pieces.

These are just a sampling of the metal menagerie but they certainly provide some great inspiration! I hope to have enough knowledge about all the various weave possibilities and the shapes they can create to make my own little critters, eventually! For now I will have to make do with this fantastic tutorial Michael has created to help people make their own dragon keychain as shown below.

Be warned – its not for the faint of heart! The tutorial is well-written and easy to follow but requires a bit of chainmail knowledge.

Before you rush off to make your own keychain, here’s one more: Nessie! Don’t you just love the colour in this one?

I hope you enjoyed my latest awesome find! Feel free to leave a suggestion if you know of something that is simply fantastic (I’m trying to get away from chainmail for the next one but when you find something great, you just gotta share.)

Happy crafting!

Completed Flower Earings

Hi there, welcome to my first Beginner’s Do-It-Yourself tutorial! Today I am going to walk you through how to create these fun spring earrings as well as your own ear wires. Its pretty easy, I promise; let’s get started. You’ll need three kinds of pliers (chain nose, bent nose, and round nose) and a wire cutter to complete this project.

If you are using coloured rings like I am, be careful with your pliers as they can scratch the colour off if you are too rough.

The rest of the guide is after the jump! (Click “more…” below)

Materials
-18 gauge  3/16″ID annonized aluminum rings – 12 for petals, 12 for the stem
- 3/36″ID annonized aluminum rings – 24 to match petals, 24 to match center
- 18 gauge 3/36″ID silver rings – 10
- 20 gauge tinned copper/silver wire (or pre-made silver earwires)

The annonized aluminum rings are from The Ring Lord and the silver rings and wire are from a local bead store called Bead Junction.

The tiny little rings used as connectors can sometimes be hard to close, I suggest working with a good lamp and turning your bent nose pliers to point inwards instead of outwards. That way, you can grab the rings with the very tips of your pliers without the bend getting in the way. Or you can use another set of chain nose pliers but I find the bent nose much easier.

Step 1: To start, create a chain of  6 large rings of the main colour (the petals) connected by 2 small rings of the same shade and then add one more large ring of a different color (this will be the center of your flower). This last ring is connected using rings that match it as closely as possible.

Step 1

Step 2: Now, begin wrapping the first six rings around the seventh, connecting it to each ring as you go. Finally, connect the final two outside rings together.

Step 2

And there’s your flower!

Step 2 Completed

Step 3: To complete the earrings as shown, create the stem by interlocking 3 sets of 2 green rings like in the picture below. Or you can stop here and add some ear wires.

Step 3

Step 4: Connect these together with smaller rings and to the flower and you’re almost done.

Step 4

Step 5: At this point you can either attach some bought ear wires or continue the tutorial to learn how to make your own!

Take your silver wire and cut two sections the same length, approximately 1.5 – 2 inches long. Make a small loop in one end of a section using your round nose pliers.

Step 5

Step 6: Grasp this loop with your pliers near the base and pull the wire around one side, this will form the large curve of your ear wires.

Step 6

Step 7: To finish the ear wires, use your chain nose pliers to bend up a small section of the end. Be sure to file this end before wearing your new earrings or they might feel a bit sharp and scratchy!

Step 7

Step 8: Connect your ear wires and there ya go; finished the first one, now go do it again!

Step 8

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and your new earrings! This is my first tutorial so I’d love to get some feedback about what I did right and what could be improved; so comment or send me an email please.

~Emily

From the Blue Buddha Boutique’s Rebeca Mojico comes this beautiful necklace, reminiscent of intertwined seaweed and aptly named Poseidon’s Embrace.

Created for a show, this stunning necklace uses over 14 000 coloured titanium rings and took over 100 hours to complete! What a feat of patience! Understandably this piece has already inspired those lucky enough to have been privy to some of the process over on the Ring Lord forums and I am sure it will impress many more. I look forward to hearing the results of the contest (and am very curious about the other entries!)

Make sure to check out their their other awesome work on their site, Blue Buddha Boutique and if you’re feeling inspired too, take a gander at their chainmaille supplies as well!

Good luck Rebeca!

~Emily

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